I just went hunting for this in the archives this afternoon. Putting
together what I read there and my own experimentation, I was able to
convert to text. However, this won't work for some pdfs, probably
because they are copyrighted. If the selection you want is dimmed,
you'll know that either you haven't selected the text (see below) or
you can't make a text file.
What worked for me is the following:
1. Open the file in preview.
2. Press command-a to select all text.
3. Press vokeys-m to go into menus.
4. Arrow right once to preview and then down to services.
5. Arrow right at services and go down to textedit and arrow right
there again.
6. You should find an item "new window containing selection". (Do not
choose "open selected file". Do vokeys-space on "open selection in
new window" and the file should be opened in textedit. You may have
to use command-tab to go over to textedit; you may not get verbal
confirmation that the selection is in textedit; you may just find
that the menu has closed and you are in preview; in that case holding
command command down and repeatedly pressing tab will take you
through your open applications so you can see if textedit is open
with your text.
Hth.
--
Cheryl
"Where your treasure is,
there will your heart be also".
